Just by saying the name, Aoto could feel a spiritual sense settle on him, along with an extremely chilling aura.
Aoto dispelled it with a wave of his hand, but Isshin Shiba had felt it too.
The most important thing about a Zanpakuto was its name.
To achieve Shikai, the key was to communicate with one's Zanpakuto through Sword Zen and learn its name.
Once you knew its name, you could release it directly!
Even if you deliberately stopped short of saying the whole name, you could still achieve a partial release.
Hyōrinmaru didn't want Aoto to tell Shiro his name, or there wouldn't be any challenge at all!
Aoto hadn't planned to tell him anyway.
It wouldn't do Shiro any good.
Besides... Aoto didn't think Hyōrinmaru could hold out much longer.
It felt like as soon as Shiro got a Zanpakuto, Hyōrinmaru would be itching to tell him its name.
Noticing Shiro's reaction, Isshin Shiba could tell that Aoto had been telling the truth.
The strongest ice-type Zanpakuto of all time, Hyōrinmaru?
It really didn't suit the 11th Division.
Since the name of Hyōrinmaru's Bankai had also been passed down, Shiro could be absolutely certain he'd be able to master Bankai someday.
That meant he wasn't just a promising talent—he was a captain in the making.
It would be foolish not to take advantage of such a bargain.
"I agree!" Isshin Shiba said with a bright smile. "Brother Hyakume, if you ever need any help, feel free to get in touch with the 10th Division. Our two divisions should keep in touch!"
Uh, we're brothers now?
Does that make me Kaien's uncle out of nowhere?
Well, that's great!
Next time I see Kaien, I'll have to tell him, "Kaien, you really need to get your act together!"
Aoto looked just as cheerful as Isshin Shiba.
"If Captain Shiba puts it that way, I'd be glad to accept!" Aoto replied respectfully. "As it happens, our captain's been short on opponents lately, and he's in a terrible mood. That Getsuga Tensho of yours is incredibly powerful. Would you mind—"
Before Aoto could finish, Isshin Shiba ran off. "I just remembered I left laundry out at home! Brother Hyakume, see you next time..."
Isshin Shiba's Flash Step was so fast that Aoto wouldn't have heard the end of his sentence if he hadn't had sharp ears.
But seeing his reaction made Aoto laugh.
Zaraki Kenpachi really was someone everyone tried to avoid.
Even Aoto's real body probably wouldn't want to fight him!
That battle maniac... He'd learned to seal his own Reiatsu just so he could enjoy fighting. Just when you thought he was about to cut you down, he'd probably unleash it!
It was impossible to imagine where his limits were!
Rangiku Matsumoto hadn't run off with Isshin Shiba.
She looked a little aggrieved. "I asked you so many times and you wouldn't agree, but the moment the captain shows up, you bring it up yourself. 4th Seat Hyakume, are you messing with me?"
"I only just confirmed what kind of Zanpakuto Shiro has. If it were a direct-combat type, I would've kept him in the 11th Division even if Captain Shiba had come!" Aoto looked completely innocent. "You were just unlucky! You didn't stick with what you wanted to do, and now you're acting like it's my fault!"
That excuse was airtight!
Rangiku couldn't even pretend to argue.
But on second thought, she'd accomplished her main goal!
Even though Aoto had brought it up himself, it was now settled that Shiro would join the 10th Division someday!
It felt great!
Surely Captain Shiba would give her credit for it!
Rangiku Matsumoto grinned like a little fox again.
Watching her expression change from one moment to the next, Aoto really couldn't understand her!
Women were so hard to figure out!
"By the way, 4th Seat Matsumoto!" Aoto looked at Rangiku Matsumoto and solemnly advised her, "You've been sneaking around to watch us for days. You've probably let your training slip. You should work harder, or my disciple might become lieutenant before you do!"
With that, Aoto picked up Shiro and went back inside with his grandmother!
Rangiku Matsumoto gritted her teeth at his words.
But he did have a point.
After seeing how quickly Shiro's strength had improved, she really ought to put in more effort!
Although she was a Fourth Seat, Rangiku Matsumoto already had the spiritual pressure of a 5th-seat lieutenant, and lately it had been showing signs of reaching the 4th.
But compared with when she had first become a Soul Reaper, her Reiatsu was growing much more slowly now!
Was it because she hadn't been training properly lately?
Rangiku Matsumoto thought it might also have something to do with her Zanpakuto, Haineko, which had been giving her the cold shoulder recently.
She hoped that little guy wouldn't surpass her so easily!
Las Noches.
At that moment, a group of children surrounded the King of Hueco Mundo.
The Hollow Holes in their bodies and their Reiatsu showed that they were all Hollows—and all Menos Grande of the Adjuchas class.
Or, more accurately, they were all the same Adjuchas.
Their name was Picaro.
They were a Menos Grande formed when a group of starving child Hollows devoured one another. After becoming an Adjuchas, the first one regained its sanity. But from then on, whenever it encountered a child who had just become a Hollow, it would willingly let the child devour its flesh.
Though this cost it the chance to evolve into a Vasto Lorde, every Hollow that devoured its flesh became part of it.
Once the original Adjuchas had completely disappeared, all the childlike Hollows were Picaro!
The Picaro could transfer Reiatsu among themselves with almost no loss.
A lone Picaro couldn't defeat a powerful Hollow, but ten of them together could take down a Gillian.
A hundred working together could unleash destructive power comparable to Byakuya Kuchiki's Bankai.
And the Picaro gathered at Las Noches right now... numbered more than three hundred!
They were like a bunch of obedient grandkids, happily taking candy from the King of Hueco Mundo and munching away nearby.
The Picaro sometimes fought among themselves, but other Picaro would step in to break it up.
Unless they were fighting an outside enemy, you'd never guess they were all one being.
But the most striking thing was that the masks on the Picaro's faces were all broken!
They now showed the faces of little children, which made them look adorable.
If they hadn't become Arrancar and still wore their Hollow masks, the Picaro would've looked pretty scary!
Beside the King of Hueco Mundo stood another handsome man, his face completely free of a mask. He watched the Picaro around him with fondness... much to the jealousy of a girl who looked to be in her teens standing beside him.
That handsome man was Coyote Starrk, a Vasto Lorde who had become an Arrancar through his own strength alone.
The girl was Lilynette Gingerbuck, the half of himself he had split off when he became an Arrancar!